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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (54750)	1/30/2007 11:37:25 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

What Makes A Protest Newsworthy? Power Line This point is closely related to the "Grim Milestones" post immediately below. Earlier today, "tens of thousands" of demonstrators gathered on the Mall in Washington, D.C. to protest the Iraq war. The cast of speakers was less than impressive: Dennis Kucinich, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Jane Fonda. Scrappleface parodies the demonstration in a post called "D.C. Rally Demands Iraq War End, Better Celebrities:" <<< Organizers said the biggest challenge facing the anti-war movement today is how to hold together a loose coalition of groups with divergent agendas using celebrities who peaked in popularity 10 to 30 years ago. "The speaker roster reminds me of the old Hollywood Squares game show," said one unnamed staffer of Vegan Lesbians for Racial and Nuclear Justice, whose dozens of members will cross the continent to join the rally today. "I mean Fonda, Sarandon, Glover and Jackson might as well be Charo, Joan Rivers, George Gobel and Paul Lynde. How am I going get my group excited about geopolitical and military strategy with these has beens leading the way?" >>> It's hard to say how many people attended the demonstration; the Washington police no longer issue estimates of crowd sizes. Organizers said they were hoping for 100,000, and news accounts say there were "tens of thousands." I haven't seen a photo that shows the entire crowd; this one comes closest: You can't judge from a single picture, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think the demonstration was anything special in terms of turnout. Contrast this with a demonstration that occurred in the same place, just a few days ago, when "tens of thousands" of demonstrators gathered to protest the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade: I don't know which protest was bigger, but I'm pretty sure I can predict which one will get more press coverage. My home-town paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, didn't cover the abortion protest at all. Again, whether and how a demonstration is covered has a lot more to do with the political agenda of reporters and editors than with the number or enthusiasm of the demonstrators. And I think we all know what narrative the liberal media are now pushing. It's the "will to lose" that John O'Sullivan identified at the National Review summit last night. UPDATE: A reader who is training as an intelligence analyst writes: <<< [A]s a spook-in-training, I am studying Arabic, inter alia, and spend more time than I would like watching Arabic TV, and this protest -- and good ole Jane Fonda, sans the AA artillery prop -- are all over the news. Expectations of American withdrawal from, and thus defeat in Iraq, are running high, and I cannot say I blame the Arabs for thinking retreat is imminent. Many Americans, including Republicans, are talking and acting as if surrender is near, and that an American loss in Iraq is a good and honorable thing. I fear that it will not be long before we do retreat and all the sacrifices will be for naught. Jane Fonda has the dubious distinction, along with the media and many Democrats, of giving aid and comfort to our enemies and bringing about American defeat in two wars. >>> Not yet, though. Not yet. FURTHER UPDATE: A poster at the Forum has an excellent first-hand report. He was, to put it mildly, unimpressed. To comment on this post, go here. plnewsforum.com powerlineblog.com breitbart.com scrappleface.com washingtontimes.com powerlineblog.com plnewsforum.com